Water is supplied in Dublin on a Regional basis. The Region includes all of Dublin City and County and parts of Wicklow and Kildare. On a typical day 540 million litres of water is collected from our rivers, cleaned and made safe to drink at four main treatment plants. Three of these treatment plants are operated by Dublin City Council at Ballymore Eustace (Liffey), Roundwood (Vartry) and Ballyboden (Dodder). Fingal County Council operates the treatment plant at Leixlip (Liffey).
From the water treatment plants water flows by gravity through large pipes (trunk mains) to service reservoirs. These provide short-term storage to ensure a constant water supply during peak demand periods. Levels in the reservoirs drop during the day when demand is high and rise by night when demand is low.
From the service reservoirs, water flows through a smaller pipe system (distribution mains) to the City’s, homes, schools and businesses. Most water flows by gravity, however in some elevated areas it is necessary to pump.
Over two thousand kilometres of underground pipes carry the water in a web-like network through the City.
Water Supply Zones
The water distribution system is very complex and in the City is broken down into Water Supply Zones. These Water Supply Zones are generally fed as follows, however it must be noted that the supply and source of water can vary, depending on demand:
District Metered Areas
The Water Supply Zones can be further broken down into approximately 200 District Metered Areas (DMA’s). The DMA’s allow us to closely monitor flow and pressures across the City with the telemetry system. The telemetry system provides real time data on flows and pressure across the City and Region. It is possible that two DMA’s even though side by side could be supplied from a different reservoir. This explains how during water restrictions two streets located beside each other may be effected differently i.e. one may have water and the other may not have water.